Harry Potter and the Apprentice of the True Wizard
by rahdisas
Summary: Harry enters the summer depressed about Sirius's death. Harry then becomes the apprentice of Dumbledore to train and defeat Voldemort. He faces problems in determining his feelings for Hermione and the problems of accepting them. Read and find out more.
1. Of Headmasters and Letters

Chapter 1 – Of Headmasters and Letters

It was a perfectly normal, clear, English summer night. Everything was quiet except for a recurring droning sound like that of a truck sputtering to ignition. However, the source of the sound was not a truck but rather a person whose size was once compared to a truck by a rather angry peddler. These guttural sounds were only interrupted by some rather strange words like "toothbrush" and "Buckingham" – incomprehensible to anyone except Vernon Dursley.

Vernon Dursley was a happy man at this moment. He was standing in the driveway of a mammoth mansion that was almost five times the size of Buckingham palace. He was gleefully watching his nephew wash the tires of his new Aston Martin with the smallest toothbrush that could be found in the household. Vernon thought that the toothbrush was rather large and that he would have to make it a point to tell his butler to buy a much smaller one. He was waiting for his wife and son to come down for they were ready to leave for his son, Dudley's, knighting ceremony at the Buckingham Palace. Vernon was already knighted a couple of months ago and now it was only fitting that his son be bestowed the same honour. Alas, at this point, his pleasant thoughts were rather rudely interrupted as an ear-piercing scream suddenly rang through the air and caused the world around him to black out.

Thus, was Vernon Dursley rather rudely awakened to reality. He realized that he didn't like reality since he wasn't a knight, he didn't own an Aston Martin, and he didn't own a house five times larger than the Buckingham Palace. He was stripped of everything he rightfully deserved in less than a second. At this moment, Vernon Dursley was not a happy man.

"AAAAAAAH" came the shout from the second bedroom. Vernon marched down to the second bedroom and threw open the door in anger – he was furious at Harry for disturbing his pleasant dreams.

"What on earth is the matter with you boy? First night you come home and you start yelling at the top of your lungs. What are you trying to do wake up the entire neighbourhood!" yelled Vernon. "We have enough problems as it is without you drawing attention to yourself. You WILL do something about those dreams – either get someone from your lot to fix you up or you'll force me to do something about it. You better not do anything to attract attention while we're gone. You hear that boy!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon. I'll tell them to cast a silencing charm on my room every night" replied Harry meekly.

"Don't use those WORDS!" spat Vernon with disgust "Just do whatever the hell you guys do. I am going back to sleep now and don't you do anything that'll disturb my sleep again – I have a train to catch tomorrow."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon. Good night."

And Vernon slammed the door hard and returned to his room. He felt good yelling at the boy – serves him right for disturbing my wonderful dream. He sunk into his bed and dozed off again instantly. _Ah, now where was I…_

Since Harry came back from the train station, he was so completely drowned in grief at the death of Sirius. He sat in his room all the time since he didn't have the patience to deal with the Dursleys. He didn't even feel happy when they announced that they were going on vacation to France for 2 weeks. How could he possibly feel happy when he did to Sirius? That's it! Much more than sorrow at the loss of his godfather, he felt guilt – unending guilt. He blamed himself almost completely. Sure, everyone was telling him in letters that the only people to be blamed were Bellatrix and Voldemort. Yet, he wasn't satisfied.

Burying his head in his pillow he cried out loud in anguish "I don't need Voldemort to kill people I love I'll bring them to him!"

"Now, now Harry. You don't really think you can convince that many people to go to Voldemort, do you?" came a voice from the door.

Astonished, Harry quickly turned around with his wand drawn – ready to curse at the intruder. There, standing at the doorway was the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, as he watched Harry smiling sadly.

"Professor Dumbledore! What are you doing here?" asked Harry in a surprised tone.

"I just came to check on you Harry and talk to you," replied the old headmaster cautiously.

"Ah yes! Don't want anything to happen to the one and only weapon do we?" said Harry bitterly.

Dumbledore didn't seem the least bit perturbed since he had been expecting Harry to say this at some point.

"No, I came to see how you are dealing with everything that happened last year. I know that you are angry with me right now. However, let me just make a couple of things clear first." He waited a bit to see if Harry would say anything.

No response.

"Well, let me first sit down" He conjured himself nice comfortable armchair, cast some privacy wards, and began "I will tell you first that I have always respected you Harry. You have to know that. I never saw you as a weapon – do you really think I would have kept the prophecy from you if I did think of you like that? In fact, I was so fond of you that I didn't want you to handle the pressures of the prophecy by waiting to tell you about it. Now, I know that it was a mistake but hindsight is a wonderful thing, Harry. At that time, I felt that I was giving you a childhood by not burdening you with the prophecy." He paused.

" I know that the Dursleys are a necessary evil – and that you went through a lot during the last 11 years. So, when you came to Hogwarts, I felt overjoyed to see that you saw Hogwarts like a home to you. So, I felt that I at least owed you a normal life while you were at Hogwarts – thus I tried to give you some of the childhood that you missed at the Dursleys. I know now that it was an oversight on my part. I should have seen that no matter what I do, Voldemort is still there to torment you. I hope you will forgive an old man for his mistakes… I won't keep any more secrets from you – that I promise. Of course, some secrets may not concern you but anything related to you – I can and will tell you. I care for you a great deal, Harry – much more than any other person I know. You are like a grandson to me – and I hope that, at some point, you will think of me as a grandfather figure as well " confessed Dumbledore with an air of resignation.

Harry rushed out of his bed and enveloped Dumbledore in a tight hug. Even though he was six feet tall, his head barely came up to the old professor's chin. As he released Dumbledore, he looked grateful and contrite.

"I am so sorry for everything, Professor. I know that whatever you did – you did with my best intentions at heart. I am so honoured to know that such a great wizard like you thinks so much of me, I hope you can forgive me for my outburst in your office." He said this quickly as though afraid of how

"And I already think of you like a grandfather figure, Professor."

He added softly.

Dumbledore looked jubilant.

"Oh, think nothing of it, Harry. My office was getting crowded with a lot of useless items – you just saved me the trouble of getting rid of them" He beamed at Harry.

"Thanks" Harry grinned.

"Harry, how are you coping with Sirius?" Dumbledore asked tentatively.

Harry's grin vanished as soon as it came. A pained expression took his face – he looked away for a minute and then slowly said "I am not sure really – I miss him so much it hurts. I didn't know my parents – and he was the closest thing I have ever had to a real parent – and Voldemort takes him away too"

His jaw clenched "I HATE HIM," he said so coldly that a shiver passed through Dumbledore's spine.

"I feel so guilty. If only I had listened to you and Her… She was telling me too – she said it might be a trick – I didn't listen" He gave a cold laugh "Hah. When do I ever listen? You know she's right – I have a "saving people thing" and I don't know what to do about it."

He sighed loudly. Dumbledore placed an arm on his shoulder

"Harry, its ok to feel guilty. Believe me – what is more important is that if you get consumed by your guilt you will make Sirius's sacrifice in vain. He sacrificed his life for you; do you want to sit and mope around and wait for Voldemort to kill you or are you going to prepare for what is coming and take life head on. I will tell you this much, Harry. Sirius is not the first death you have faced – and it certainly won't be your last. If you handle this strongly – then you will be not only be more prepared for the next time – but also you'll enjoy your life more"

"But haven't I lost enough. I don't think I can stand losing another close person. You don't know how I felt when I saw Hermione take the curse from Dolohov." Tears rolling down his face, he continued, " I felt as though I couldn't move on. I mean I knew Sirius for a year but I know Ron and Hermione for more than five years – I don't think I can move on if one of them leaves me. Now, they are probably next on Voldemort's hit list just because they are my friends. I need them but if they stay my friends then Voldemort will target them. I don't know what to do anymore. Why does it have to be this bad? WHY?" Harry yelled frustratingly.

Dumbledore sighed and a sad look came over his eyes. "Harry, all the advice this old man can give you is –don't dwell on the past but learn from it. Protect your friends and don't push them away – they provide you the strength and the courage to move on. Promise me this, Harry: Promise me that you won't push your friends away."

"I don't want to put them in any danger though" After seeing the determined look in Dumbledore's eyes he sighed resignedly "Ok, I am going to give them a choice and if they foolishly accept to stay friends with me then I won't push them away – is that good?" He inquired.

"Yes, very. About the prophecy, I wanted to ask you – are you willing to be trained to defeat Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked in a serious tone.

"Yes. I am tired of running from him. I think I need training to at least give him a fight in a duel. I also meant to ask you this – what exactly is this power that I have that can defeat him? I know you said "Love" but how is love a power to defeat him. I mean I can barely escape every time I meet him. How do I catch up with his years and years of knowledge of magic?" Harry asked, running a hand through his hair.

"First, I want to tell you that I am not sure how "love" can be used to beat him. However, I am sure that love is the key to defeating him. The killing curse requires a huge amount of hatred to perform it – I am positive that you cannot perform the killing curse even if you tried your entire life. Its probably useless against Voldemort anyway since he has protected himself against the killing curse – this is why he believes he is immortal. You are an extremely powerful wizard, Harry, you will soon learn just how powerful you truly are when we start training." He continued

"However, until then I believe that we must search high and low for the key to defeating Voldemort – I suggest you take Ms. Granger's help for this assignment – she is quite resourceful." Dumbledore added with a smirk playing at his lips. Harry blushed – although he wasn't sure why, it just seemed like Dumbledore had caught him doing something naughty.

He just shrugged the strange feeling off and asked his headmaster

"So, who is going to teach me? What am I going to learn? How am I to play Quidditch, study for classes, and do homework?"– he asked Dumbledore one question after another in quick succession.

Dumbledore watched this barrage of questions with an amused expression.

"Is that all? Well, I will be teaching you most of your stuff. Remus and Alastor may help me in one or two of your exercises but mostly you will mostly learn from me. We cannot teach you how to become an Animagus legally"

"But, alas, these old eyes can't keep an eye on everyone of you children" He added with a wink.

"Your training with me will cover sorcery, enchantments, some advanced charms, occlumency, legilimency, and, my own area of expertise, white magic."

As Harry started to open his mouth, Dumbledore raised his hand. "I will tell you everything about those topics when the time comes. Until then I must ask you not to ask questions. We will begin the day after your sixteenth birthday, is that acceptable?"

But Harry appeared impatient to start his learning with the great wizard.

"Why wait till my birthday? I mean can't we start earlier than that. It'll give me more time to learn."

"Oh, you'll see. Just wait till your birthday – I think you'll be very surprised by your mother's gift" He mysteriously replied, his eyes twinkling away.

"Until your birthday, we'll go over some theory of magic – however, we'll save the practical stuff until then. I will try and come to visit you whenever I get a chance – I hope I can find time. As you know the Order is really busy nowadays, I will try and make time. " Dumbledore said getting off his seat.

"Yes, thanks a lot Professor. Talking with you about… Sirius really helped. Thanks"

said Harry in somewhat strained tone.

"Remember what I said about not letting the past consume you but rather let it guide you. Your guilt should not be a barrier for your life but rather it should help you not repeat mistakes. What is done is done; now all that remains to be seen is what is to be done. Until then, I have to get going. Ah yes, one more thing. You can tell Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley about your training but tell them to keep it a secret – we don't want to parade the information about your training around. All right then. It was nice talking to you, goodbye Harry."

He took out a rabbit's foot, muttered something, and was gone in a blink of an eye.

Harry fell back into his bed, smiling for the first time since coming back. "Well this will certainly be an interesting summer"

Dumbledore was now visiting him every two or three days. They talked for hours on end about everything – from the meaning of life to the theory behind magic. Harry found that he rather looked forward to these discussions with Dumbledore – they were always profound and he felt as if he were learning the lessons that Dumbledore himself learnt from his many experiences in life. He informed Hermione and Ron about his training in his letter. Dumbledore took the letters to them since owls were no longer safe.

He didn't receive any replies for a couple of weeks – so he was wondering what was happening. Finally, Dumbledore got some letters for them. He opened Hermione's letter first expecting her to be giddy about the whole thing - he wasn't disappointed.

"_Dear Harry,_

_Oh my god! Are you really going to train with Dumbledore? I am soooooo jealous of you. But, you'll teach me everything you learn right? You better tell me everything – otherwise I'll hex you to next month. Everything is fine here. I got my O.W.L results today! I got 20 O.W.L's all O's except in Astronomy (in which I got an E – it really wasn't fair of them what with all the distractions during the exam). My parents are really proud. Sorry, for not sending you replies sooner – we were moving since my house is no longer safe. They are now at The Safe Place with me and the Weasleys._

_Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We are coming to pick you up on your birthday – we asked Dumbledore and he said it was all right. So, see you then. I hope to see you soon – it's not any fun without you here. _

_I miss you loads._

_Love,_

_Hermione"_

Harry's mood brightened considerably after reading the letter. _Well, that was certainly unexpected. I am going to leave this hellhole and meet Hermione and Ron. Yes…._ He opened Ron's letter next:

"_Hi Harry,_

_So, you are training with Dumbledore now huh? Good for you mate. I hope you can learn how to transfigure Malfoy into a ferret – that would be something, huh? Anyway, Hermione's here at the Safe Place as well. We are coming to pick you up on your birthday – isn't that great? I am so bored here without you. The only things that Hermione and Ginny talk about are how some guy is so hot – they won't even tell me the name of the guy. I think it's that damn Viktor Krum. _

_Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask you about something. I, um, was wondering if I should ask Hermione out. I had a secret crush on her since fourth year and now that she is here, I want to see if we will work out but I am dead scared. I hope you don't think that I am breaking the trio or anything by thinking about this – what do you think? _

_Don't write to me. Just tell me when we come to pick you up. _

_Bye,_

_Ron"_

Harry was stunned. _Ron has a crush on Hermione. Ron has a crush on her. He has a CRUSH on her. _

_Wow! He never showed any signs of a crush. I hope they don't ignore me if they do start going out. I hope for Ron's sake, Hermione accepts. They would be good for each other._

Harry couldn't wait until his birthday now.


	2. A Birthday Surprise?

Chapter 2 – A Birthday… Surprise?

Soon came the fateful day. Harry Potter was lying in his bed awake – refusing to go to sleep. It was his birthday today and he wanted to see what would happen to him when it turned midnight. He was too excited to go to sleep – so he just stayed up and did his homework.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the clock struck 12.

Nothing.

He waited another 5 minutes.

Still nothing.

He waited another hour. Yet, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen. He didn't understand what was wrong. Dumbledore had said that something momentous would happen this day – but there was no trace of any pain in the scar, no flashes, no fireworks, -- there was nothing. He sat up for a while pondering on this. _What was I expecting to happen? Dumbledore's probably wrong. Ah, what's the use anyway? I will find out tomorrow about what was supposed to have happened anyway – no use panicking. Might as well get some sleep. _And so, finally, he gave up his resolve and fell into a deep slumber.

He was dreaming now. He was standing in the middle of a circle of stones surrounded by sprawling meadows. It took him a while to grasp his surroundings but he finally realized that the place was Stonehenge. But there was something different about the place. He could actually smell the freshness in the air and feel the wind to his face. This was unlike any other dream he had had before.

And then saw in the middle of the rocks, which were now emanating an eerie green light, was Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor…, what am I doing at Stonehenge in the middle of the night? What are you doing here? How did I get here?" asked Harry baffled at the turn of events.

"Ah Harry, I brought you here. I find this a very useful tool in talking to someone for a long period of time." Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"This is the Circle of Merlin, Harry. Whenever a True Wizard is born he is brought here and initiated. You would have been brought here when you were born but your mother cast a powerful spell on you to make sure that you weren't given your abilities until you were sixteen. Before you get very angry with me, know that I did not hide this from you on purpose, Harry. I was not allowed to tell you about this since I had taken a wizard's oath not to tell my "apprentice" until the right time. As you know, wizard's oaths are not to be taken lightly. Now, I am sure you have a lot of questions. I will answer all your questions now."

Dumbledore said that in a completely cool tone as if it was nothing but old news. He conjured a couple of chairs and gestured for Harry to sit down.

Harry plopped down on the comfortable armchair in a daze. He seemed momentarily stunned by this whole barrage of information. He took a moment and gathered his thoughts.

"Professor, what… err… who… is a True Wizard?" Harry inquired, still not sure whether or not to believe this dream.

"To answer that, I need you to answer this. Do you know how a wizard controls magic?"

Dumbledore asked with a knowing smile on his face.

"Err... well… I am not sure. I guess with a wand. I saw spells and stuff happens depending upon the words of the spells," answered Harry a bit tentatively.

"EXACTLY! So, essentially there are two key elements to magic, as we know it – incantations and the use of a wand, right? Well, where do you think the magic comes from – your wand – the magic words?" Dumbledore asked again with that ever-persistent twinkle in his eyes.

"Um... no I don't think it comes from a wand or words, because then even a muggle could do magic with the right words and a wand. It has to be inside you. Maybe blood?" Harry replied, still unsure about where this was leading.

"Your reasoning powers are excellent, Harry. You are right on two things – magic does not come from a wand nor does it come from words. And, indeed, it is in your very blood. Why then do we need a wand or silly little incantations? It is for focus, Harry. If you didn't know what _Wingardium Leviosa_ did, then you would not be able to do it at all. You could repeat the words forever and still have no effect on any object if you didn't know what it did. However, after you know what it does, you actually make yourself believe that because of that word you are able to levitate the object – which is not the case at all. The only reason you were able to levitate the object is because you actually focussed your power and tried to actually levitate it. However, the words are a useful way of learning magic."

He paused for a moment and continued.

"You see, your mind attributes the incantations to the effect and thus, by doing so, it effectively gives the words the power to do magic. Which is why just saying the words is not enough – if you said Wingardium Leviosa pointing at an object and were actually thinking about say… food. Then, the object would levitate but only for a moment. It will levitate because your subconscious has associated those two words with levitation – however, it will need you to focus your power to an extent to actually make it levitate perfectly."

"Do you understand what I am saying Harry" Dumbledore queried, he saw Harry with a somewhat dazed look on his eyes.

Harry got out from his stupor and nodded. " I think so. Essentially, you are saying that the words don't mean anything and that the only reason they are magical is because your mind makes them magical to an extent. Right?"

"Yes, I couldn't have said it better. Most advanced wizards can do soundless magic since the process basically entails grasping the concept of magic. I believe Miss Granger will find the aforementioned theory to be very interesting."

Dumbledore added with a smirk.

"On the other hand, a wand is a completely different concept altogether. Wands actually help focus the magic inside you because of its magical core. However, a wizard with exceptional magical strength can do wandless magic with enough training. These wizards are extremely rare and extremely powerful; in fact, Merlin prophesised that there would be seven such True Wizards, as he called them, after him who would have such exceptional power. Up until now, we have had the four founders, me, Voldemort, and now finally you."

Harry's expression changed quickly from confusion to awe to bitter resignation.

"Oh great! I have this power but Voldemort has it too. How am I to defeat him if he can do the same things I can!"

"Oh no Harry! All the people I have mentioned do indeed have exceptional power – but they are by no means equal. I believe you will easily be the most powerful of them all, Harry," Dumbledore said with his twinkle at full power.

"What! Why! How do you know! I mean I can't be that powerful," Harry blurted, shaking his head in disbelief thinking his mentor had finally eaten one too many lemon drops.

"Well, you see, Voldemort draws magical power from his death eaters through the Dark Mark. Oh no, it is not simply a fancy tattoo. It actually allows Riddle to draw magical power from his death eaters – this makes him more powerful than a normal True Wizard. Now, as the prophecy says, he marked you "as his equal" when you were but a baby and Voldemort was at the height of his power. Right now, Voldemort is significantly weaker than he was sixteen years ago. This is not only owing to his rebirth and the reduced number of death eaters, but also because your own increase in magical strength at Hogwarts. This is why YOU are Voldemort's number one priority; he does not wish for you to get much more stronger. But what he doesn't know is that you **are**, as of this moment, much more powerful than the Dark Lord in terms of sheer magical power, " Dumbledore stated calmly.

"WHAT!" Harry plopped down on the ground burying his face in his hands.

"Great one more thing that I am special about. I mean why can't I ever be normal like everyone else," he yelled out in frustration.

"It is your destiny, Harry. Would you rather let Voldemort win and deny the wizarding world its only hope?"

"No, " Harry answered irritably "I am not trying to shirk away responsibility. But just because I am forced into a "hero" situation doesn't mean I have to be happy about it"

"No you don't. In fact, I completely empathise with you. I myself had a similar prophecy when I was facing Grindelwald."

Dumbledore's tone hardened.

"It stated that I had to lose the one person I loved before I could defeat him"

He sighed and looked away.

"I tried everything in my power to protect her. But, in the end, I lost her anyway…"

Harry's anger waned away as he saw the look of utter grief on the old professor's face. He silently vowed to himself that he would try everything in his power to make sure that no one he loved was hurt.

Dumbledore shook himself from his stupor and checked his timepiece.

"Enough about that, now, we don't have that much time left before you wake up. Your practical training will now begin. I will train you from now on everyday until you learn to handle yourself. You will accompany me everywhere. I will take you on any missions for the Order, the only promise I ask of you is not to fight Voldemort yet. No matter what happens, you cannot face Voldemort. He has a much greater knowledge base and you are not ready to face him yet."

He stood up and his chair disappeared.

"I expect the training to take the entire school year. You should be ready by the next summer to hold your own and defeat Voldemort. However, to actually **destroy** him is another task altogether. You will do well to take Ms. Granger's help on that aspect. I think I have said all I needed to say. We have to part now. You have already stayed here for too long and you will find that everyone is worried about you. I will meet you in a couple of days. Oh, and I hope you will keep this information secret."

"I am not going to hide anything from Ron and Hermione. I already paid last year for that mistake" Harry said defiantly, recalling last year's events.

" All right, you can tell Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, but apart from them NO ONE should know of this training. I cannot stress this enough since Voldemort will speed up his plans if he finds out about this. We will meet again in a couple of days. Until then, knock knock Harry."


	3. Revelations

Chapter 3 – Revelations

Harry woke up to an incessant knocking on the door. A familiar sweet voice was shouting from outside his door. Harry smiled as he recognized the worried voice of his best friend.

"HARRY, are you all right? Wake up and open the door… Oh this isn't working Ron, oh my god, what happened to him? He is normally a light sleeper – god I hope he's all right. Let's try to blast the door open. _BOMBARD_-"

"HERMIONE WAIT" Harry yelled quickly, not wanting his friend to get into trouble for using underage magic.

"HARRY! We were standing outside your door forever. Hermione here was so worried that she was ready to risk Azkaban to get you out of there," Ron teased.

"Oh stop it, Ron! They don't send you to Azkaban if you use underage magic, unless of course you are Harry. Harry, thank goodness you are all right! Wait, are you all right? Why weren't you opening the door? Open the door now, " her tone quickly changing from that of relief to doubt to anxiety.

"I am fine, Hermione. Just wait a second!" Harry jumped out of his bed and unlocked the door. A leaping figure came from the other side and his face was quickly drowned in a lot of frizzy hair. He thought he was being attacked by a small grizzly bear judging by the ferocity of the attack – but then he remembered his friend's squeezing-me-to-death hugs and he smiled.

To ease her worry, he patted her back, and somehow managed to squeak something out of her hug.

"Hermione… I am.. absolutely... fine... Now... let... go… Can't… Breathe…."

"Oh Harry! You scared me to death; I was so worried that somehow the death eaters had gotten to you or that you were having those dreadful nightmares again." Hermione said pulling out of the hug.

Both of them suddenly realised that Harry was only wearing his boxer shorts and the turned away quickly blushing to their roots. Ron watched this whole scene with a huge frown on his face.

"Don't get dressed yet, Harry. You don't have enough time for that. The portkey to Snuffles's Place is activated in another… thirty seconds. Get your stuff and grab on to this," said Ron pulling out a yellow rubber duck from his pocket.

Still avoiding Hermione's eyes, Harry quickly gathered his trunk and other stuff. He told Hedwig to meet them at Grimmauld Place.

"Ok, you have everything. Good. 3…2…1… NOW!" He grabbed the portkey and experienced the familiar pull behind the navel.

They landed in a pile in the middle of the living room. Hermione who was now on top of Harry was staring into his brilliant green eyes as if in a trance, while Harry staring back into her soft brown eyes, both of them unwilling to move out of their compromising position.

They stayed like that for a while before they realised their position and Harry's lack of clothing. They blushed and quickly got up to a very red Ron and a very green Ginny.

After giving Hermione a cold withering look, Ginny quickly ran upstairs blinking away tears.

Both Harry and Hermione raised their eyebrows to Ron asking him what was wrong with Ginny. Ron gave Harry a death glare, frowned, and gave them an exasperated look.

"What! The great Hermione Granger can't figure a simple thing like this out. God, and I thought you were smart," teased Ron, in a very bitter tone. He stopped after he saw Hermione's McGonagall glare. He raised his hands in defence.

"All right, all right. Well, Ginny came down here to find her archrival in her battle for love, the perfect Ms. Hermione Granger, on top of her crush, Mr. Harry Potter, while Harry was wearing nothing but boxer shorts and you two were staring into each others eyes like a couple of love birds. Is that good enough?" After finishing his speech, Ron gave Harry another death glare, swirled around and walked out of the room leaving two very embarrassed people.

"Um.. Sorry 'bout that Hermione. I didn't real…" He was quickly cut off.

"That's ok, Harry. It's not your fault Ron and Ginny are jealous over nothing. But you better put some clothes on first before you give somebody else some wrong ideas."

She said the last very quickly and ran out of the room before she made a greater fool of herself.

She sat down on the sofa thinking about the recent events.

_God, what was I doing there? He is my best friend, that's all. But he does have beautiful green eyes… well, he also has a great body; the Quidditch must do some good. Argh… what am I doing? He is also Harry Potter and he can have any girl he wants. I am lucky to be even friends with him; I am not going to go after something that has a very little chance of working out. That's it. He is my best friend and he will remain that way_

With an air of finality, she headed towards the kitchen to join the rest for dinner.

Dinner was a very lively affair. Remus and Tonks were talking about the security wards in place for the Hogwarts train; Ron was, as usual, stuffing his face with all the food that he could find; Molly was fussing over Harry and how thin he had gotten at the Dursleys; Ginny was shooting death glares at her making her feel very uncomfortable; and Harry was talking to Dumbledore in a low voice. Curious as to what they were whispering about, Hermione took out a Weasley Wizarding Wheeze's Invisible Extendable ear from her purse and tried to catch something from their conversation. As she put the Extendable ear on, she heard Harry's worried voice.

"I am rethinking this whole thing, Professor. If I tell them the prophecy and everything, they will be in even more danger. I will have to push Ron and Hermione away. Voldemort could try to use them against me. I don't want to do that – I don't want to put them in any more unnecessary danger.." She heard Harry tell Dumbledore. Her eyes widened as she realised what they were talking about.

_He knows the prophecy – but, how? Why doesn't he want to tell us? I am not letting him be alone – through thick or thin I will stick by him, I promise that_.

"We discussed this before Harry; so I am not going to repeat the reasons for why they are already in danger. Besides if they are in a lot of danger, then they have a right to be given the full information about why they're in danger. Don't make the same mistake I did with you, Harry. Trust your friends, give them the information, and if they stick by you, as I expect them to, then so be it."

Harry sighed and hung his head down. "I just don't want them to be hurt. Fine… I'll tell them. Ron's a foolish Gryffindor – he'll probably stick by me. But, Hermione's smart; she'll realise that to stick by me is to stick by death. Hopefully, she'll be smart and avoid me."

Hermione fumed at his implication. _WHAT! Oh, that idiot. He will get it tonight. How dare he! What does he take me for? Urgh… he is so dead._

"Oh I think you give Ms. Granger less credit than she deserves, Harry. I think she will be your most vehement supporter throughout this thing." He looked at her with a knowing smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

Hermione's eyes widened with realisation. _Dumbledore knows I am listening; he wants me to pursue Harry in case Harry decides not to tell me about the prophecy. Smart man, Dumbledore._

Soon dinner was finished. Hermione started to go up to my room, when she heard Harry's voice.

"Um... Hermione, will you come into my room for a second? Bring Ron with you. I need to tell you guys a some things." Harry said this very hesitantly and he quickly returned to his room.

He plopped down on his bed and thought about how to tell them.

_God, I hope both of them will know what kind of danger they are in. I don't think I can move on if they were hurt. Let's hope THEY know what is good for them._

Soon an angry and confused Ron and a very anxious Hermione walked in.

"Hey Ron, um.. I need to tell you guys something important. Do you remember the prophecy that Neville destroye---- Yes?"

All three heads turned to the door to see Ginny walk in.

"I just heard something about the prophecy, and I wanted to come in and hear what you have to say" said Ginny as if defying someone to say no.

Harry shook his head.

"Sorry Ginny, but you can't hear this. Dumbledore's orders – Dumbledore told me to ONLY tell them. Frankly, I agree with him - the less people know of this, the better. Believe me, you would be much safer if you don't know what anything is about"

Ginny looked ready to argue but Hermione cut her off. "Ginny as you can see Dumbledore himself told him not to tell so it's not in his hands. If you want, go and argue with Dumbledore"

Ginny looked like she might very well do that but she finally sighed and shot another glare at Hermione and left. Hermione just sighed at losing her best female friend.

Then, to the amazement of Ron and Hermione, Harry cast a silencing charm in the room to prevent anyone from eavesdropping. They looked at him inquisitively; Harry looked baffled for a moment and then it struck him.

"Oh, I forgot you don't know. Don't worry; Dumbledore cast a ward so that the Ministry of Magic can't detect magic here at Grimmauld Place." Harry explained.

"Actually there's a reason Dumbledore did this and it was part of what I wanted to talk to you about. First let me tell you about the prophecy because then it would make explaining everything else a lot easier."

Harry sighed heavily. "You should know that except for me and Dumbledore and now you two – NO ONE knows the entire prophecy. Voldemort knows the first part of the prophecy; this is why he went to the Department of Mysteries in the first place because he wanted to listen to the entire prophecy. Mind you, Voldemort may torture you to get it if I tell you. But then again, he might torture you to get it even if he THINKS I told you. So, I will tell you the prophecy."

_"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES… BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THIRCE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES…THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…"_

By the end of his revelation, Hermione was shaking her head so violently that it looked as though it may fall off any moment. Ron just sat slack jawed trying to drink everything in.

"Oh my god… no… you are lying… Divination's an imprecise art… that can't be true… you didn't even graduate ye-"

Harry cut her off. "No Hermione. This is a real prophecy – I have to do this – either I have to kill him or I have to die – that's my… fate"

He sighed and hung his head. Hermione leapt up from her seat and hugged him tight; tears freely flowing from her eyes.

"Why does it always have to be you? Why? Why?"

"I don't know"

"Hey, don't worry. I know that Harry can beat Voldemort any day – maybe you can convince him to play a Quidditch game – loser gets to die, heh?" Ron said grinning trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh I am sure he will try to cheat at that too, Ron" Harry shot back, thankful for Ron's efforts.

"Besides there's something else I need to tell you. I am a True Wizard." Harry said nonchalantly as if just declaring that he had toast for breakfast.

Hermione gasped. She then jumped with glee.

"I knew that you needed to be powerful to defeat Voldemort. Now, that you are a True Wizard you can beat him easily"

Ron was just confused about the whole thing – staring perplexedly between the two.

"Hermione… there's a problem. Voldemort is also a True Wizard. But, don't worry! Dumbledore thinks I am somehow more powerful. Let me just tell you everything that Dumbledore has told me on this matter"

" Don't worry Ron, I'll start at the beginning." Harry added smiling. And Harry proceeded to tell them everything Dumbledore had told him about True Wizards and his theory behind how Harry was more powerful. He ended by telling them about the training he would undergo for the rest of the year.

Hermione seemed positively ecstatic about the entire thing. As Dumbledore had expected, Hermione found the soundless magic part interesting.

"You have to teach me everything, Harry. I mean except wandless magic of course, but everything else – all spells etc. YOU HAVE TO TEACH ME! Ron, you should learn too – now that you are in danger too from Voldemort." Hermione ordered in a complete no-nonsense tone. Ron just nodded; not brave enough to tackle an angry Hermione.

As opposed to Hermione's reaction, Ron's was completely unexpected. Ron's expression grew from confused to concealed envy as Harry announced his new powers. He asked in a curt tone, "Is that all?"

Harry nodded.

Ron got up, ran a hand through his hair, looked at Hermione, and left the room.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry at Ron's rude departure.

"I hope he isn't jealous of my new special abilities or anything. I mean there is also a death prophecy to go with it. I am jealous of HIM – I mean he has a family, a future, and you" replied Harry, shrugging.

"What do you mean – he has me?" asked Hermione frowning at its implication.

"Uh.. well… I mean he has your friendship for the rest of his life…while I might not…"

It was a feeble attempt at cover up but luckily it worked since it got Hermione's emotions worked up. She ran up to him and gave him another tight hug.

"Oh Harry, you will never lose my friendship, ok?"

"You can't know that" shot back Harry.

"Oh, I do know that. Nothing will happen to you. Believe me," cried Hermione, her expression pleading for him to believe her. Harry finally gave in to her; if him being alive meant Hermione was happy then he would stay alive.

"I do believe you" said Harry with a lot more conviction than before. Hermione just smiled and let go. She got up and made to leave the room. Then turned back at the door and added softly "You know, Harry, you should go and talk to Ron – you know, clear the air up. You need him, Harry."

"Yeah, thanks for the advice"

Harry, watching the retreating back of Hermione, added "and for everything."

He sat back on his bed mulling over the day's events.

_Oh great! Now I have to go and deal with that jealous prat. And I actually should give him permission to date Hermione. Then, if they get together then maybe they will stay away from me more and it will get rid of his attitude. Even though I don't like the idea of Hermione dating Ron, I should do it for her safety… and his._

"Ok, now where is that prat?"

With that, Harry set off to find Ron and knock some sense into him.


End file.
